Day 48 Pre Polishing Technique

Still in the middle of my project, so let’s talk a little more about polishing technique today. I left off yesterday after I flat-lapped the face of the piece. Today we will look at how to use the whole surface of the polishing wheel to Pre-Polish, and a little safety tip while we are at it.

I am doing a Pre-Polishing with Graystar Compound on the whole piece to get the scratches out and to smooth the surfaces. When I polish, I do it in stages, I do a “Criss-Cross” pattern on the wheel, I come at about a 45 degree angle against the Polishing Wheel on one side, then the other. Then I polish it with the length of the piece.

It is important to learn how to use the whole wheel when polishing, You can use the edges of the wheel to get into tight corners if you are careful. Load your wheel with compound when you notice it is taking more effort to get the effect you want.

Like yesterday’s entry, I modify a paperclip and put it into a Pin Vise to hold small pieces. I use this to polish the back on this piece, otherwise it would fly out of my fingers.

Last, a couple of safety things I use. If you notice, I have a plexi-glass shield attached to the front of my Polishing Hood to keep pieces and rotating “things” from my face and helps keep the dust away from me as well. I also use Nitrile Coated Gloves to polish, BUT DO NOT SUGGEST THIS FOR ANYONE!. They help me hold onto the pieces, and protect my fingers from the heat of the piece, especially silver pieces, which get very hot while polishing. I am very careful to keep them away from the spinning spindle and have been LUCKY up until now to never have had an incident. After this post and the feedback I have received, I will NEVER SUGGEST anyone use this process, it is VERY DANGEROUS.

Last tip: I want to keep the “satin” finish on the inside of this design left from the Ceramic Media that I used in my Tumbling Process, so I polish from the back of the piece to the front, which keeps the leading edge of the polishing wheel from getting to the design.

Here are a couple of pieces after Pre-Polishing. Next stop, Final Polish.

Thanks for stopping by today, I really do treasure all of you taking the time to come on this journey with me, It keeps me energized.

Now go shine your corner of the world.

Doug